CHICAGO – Exposure to traffic-related air pollution, particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide during pregnancy and during the first year of a child’s life appears to be associated with an increased risk of autism, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, a JAMA Network publication.

Autism is a diverse disorder with genetic and environmental factors likely contributing to its origins. Autism spectrum disorders are commonly characterized by problems in communication, social interaction and repetitive behaviors. Emerging evidence suggests the environment plays a role in autism, but only limited information is available about what exposures are relevant, their mechanisms of action, the stages in development in which they act and the development of effective of preventive measures, the authors write in the study background.

Heather E. Volk, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the University of Southern California, and colleagues examined the relationship between traffic-related air pollution, air quality and autism in a study that included data obtained from 279 children with autism and control group of 245 children with typical development who were enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment study in California.

“Exposures to traffic-related air pollution, PM [particulate matter] and nitrogen dioxide were associated with an increased risk of autism. These effects were observed using measures of air pollution with variation on both local and regional levels, suggesting the need for further study to understand both individual pollutant contributions and the effects of pollutant mixtures on disease,” the authors comment.

The authors used mothers’ addresses to estimate exposure for each pregnancy trimester and for a child’s first year of life. Traffic-related air pollution was estimated based on a model and regional air pollutant measures were based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System data.

Children living in homes with the highest levels of modeled traffic-related air pollution were three times as likely to have autism compared with children living in homes with the lowest exposure. The higher levels of exposure to [particulate matter less than 2.5 and 10 µm in diameter] PM 2.5, PM 10 and nitrogen dioxide based on the EPA’s regional air quality monitoring program were associated with an increased risk of autism.

“Research on the effects of exposure to pollutants and their interaction with susceptibility factors may lead to the identification of the biologic pathways that are activated in autism and to improved prevention and therapeutic strategies. Although additional research to replicate these findings is needed, the public health implications of these findings are large because air pollution exposure is common and may have lasting neurological effects,” the authors conclude.

(Arch Gen Psychiatry. Published online November 26, 2012. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.266. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)

Editor’s Note: This work was supported by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and by the MIND Institute’s matching funds and pilot grant program. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

In an editorial, Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, writes: “This issue of the journal features three articles on autism. A decade ago, the journal published about the same number of autism articles per year. This reflects a broad expansion in the number and diversity of research publications on autism spectrum disorder (ASD).”

“The upsurge of research parallels a dramatic increase in autism prevalence during the same period. In the past six years alone, the prevalence of ASD has increased 78 percent and the estimated annual cost of autism has more than tripled,” Dawson continues.

“These articles point to an urgent need for more research on prenatal and early postnatal brain development in autism, with a focus on how genes and environmental risk factors combine to increase risk for ASD. Despite a substantial increase in autism research publications and funding during the past decade, we have not yet fully described the causes of ASD or developed effective medical treatments for it. More research is needed to develop strategies for preventing or reducing the disabling symptoms associated with this highly prevalent and costly neurodevelopmental disorder,” Dawson concludes.

(Arch Gen Psychiatry. Published online November 26, 2012. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.488. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com.)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

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